Carambola may be made into the following products. Among those with good commercial potential are juice and pulps. Cordial and pickles are more suitable for cottage industries.

Consumers generally perceive fruit to be a low-calorie and healthy food, hence the increase in demand for fruit and fruit-based products. The potential for carambola juice and pulp in the beverage, dairy, infant food, sauce and confectionary industries is promising. Dried or pickled carambola could also have provide a local substitute for temperate dried fruit.

While there is no data on the total international demand for carambola juice and pulp, the industry could potentially have a bright future if it follows the trend of other tropical fruits like passion fruit, guava and mango. Fruit juice manufacturers in developed markets now source for raw juice and pulp from external suppliers in tropical countries.

Frozen juice/pulp
Carambola juice concentrate is first standardised in a mixing tank prim aril y to balance its pH. To ensure product colour uniformity, use only fruits of the same colour index for every batch. Citric acid or ascorbic acid is added to achieve the pH required by the customer. Ascorbic acid is preferred because it helps to reduce turbidity during storage.

After standardisation, the juice is cooled with a tubular scraped surface heat exchanger. The first stage cools the product to 10ºC. The temperature is lowered to 2ºC in the second stage. The semi-frozen juice will then be poured into containers lined with PE liners. After the containers are sealed, the frozen product will be chilled in a blast freezer to -18ºC. The frozen product is stored at this temperature and ready for export.

Beverages
This product is made from carambola juice, water, citric acid and may or may not contain sweeteners. The sweetener may be sucrose or a combination of sucrose and high-fructose glucose syrup. The product has a content of Brix 8-10º and pH 2.5 and does not need to be diluted. The juice may be canned or packaged aseptically.

Cordials
This product consists of a concentrate made from carambola juice with fine pulp, sugar, stabilisers, citric acid and food colouring. The cordial pH is 2.9. The product needs to be diluted with water before consumption.

Jam
There is a downward trend in the demand for jams in developed countries as consumers demonstrate a preference for low-calorie products. Many jam processers are switching to natural sweeteners such as juice concentrates or honey to cater to a more health-conscious market.

Confectionary Jelly
Fruits with a high moisture (over 80%) and acid content are suitable for the manufacture of confectionary jelly. Confectionary jelly is a semi-solid gel that is coated with castor sugar. The product is eaten as a snack or as a filling for chocolate. Carambola is a prime candidate for this product as the product retains the fruit aroma.

Dried Carambola
Dried fruit may be eaten as a snack or used as a cake ingredient. Currently, raisin and sultanas make up most of the dried fruits on the market. Carambola strips could potentially be a good substitute for other dried fruits.